Triangle

[buffyprops]

I've alway's heard Olaf referred to as a "Troll God" but I don't recall it being said in this episode.
Question: If Anyanka was exacting vengeance on him why would she turn him into a God of any kind?

While we are on the subject, check this out:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jOZS_msh0A[/ame]

 

[buffyprops]

So, I went back and watched Triangle again and sure enough...
NO mention was made of Olaf being a Troll "GOD".
Yet later in the episode The Gift, Anya refers to

"Olaf, the Troll Gods enchanted Hammer! You want to fight a God, use the weapon of a God!"

Honestly, what gives here? Is it just a situation of the writers needing to give Buffy something to fight Glory with and thinking that we the audience wouldn't notice the old slight of hand where the story was concerned?

 

[fly on the wall]

What I took that to mean is that the HAMMER is of the gods, not Olaf himself, and since I don't imagine a TROLL God being particularly...godly, all trolls can use their weapons.

 

[SlayerFae]

Okay I'm going to agree with the hammer being of the gods, not Olaf, and here's why: Consider that Aud and Olaf lived in 880 Scandinavia, and that Olaf was (don't remember an exact reference, but given his size) most likely a Viking. There is a Norse (coughVIKINGcough) God named Thor (not the comic book version, although if you're thinking that you know where I'm going) who is the god of thunder and has A BIG HONKIN' HAMMER. Now, I'm NOT saying that Olaf somehow conveniently had Thor's actual hammer, but he could have a hammer made by or blessed in the name of Thor. Hence, hammer of the gods.

I rest my really nerdy knowledge of ancient myth and even nerdier ability to think too in depth about Buffy in general 🙂

 

[buffyprops]

Makes a lot of sense...I just wish they had alluded to it more in the episodes instead of leaving so much to conjecture.
True- The "Hammer of the God's" Myth was HUGE in Norse Mythology and is undoubtedly the inspiration for this weapon on Buffy.

 

[racheltng]

Is it just a situation of the writers needing to give Buffy something to fight Glory with and thinking that we the audience wouldn't notice the old slight of hand where the story was concerned?

Well, I didn't notice until I read this thread...

 

[buffyprops]

Well, I did mention the fact that it would have been odd (not Aud 🙂)
for Anyanka to extract Vengeance on anyone by turning them into a "God" of any kind.
I just think it's a little sloppy on the writers part to have referenced it in one sentence and not attempted to explain it.
These questions still remain unanswered:
Where did Olaf get the Hammer? (since we must assume Anyanka didn't give it to him)
And who banished him into that crystal?
The last isn't that important I suppose as we can assume it was the hammer that caused Olaf to be a big enough threat to get him banished in the first place.

 

[Icarium]

Now, I'm NOT saying that Olaf somehow conveniently had Thor's actual hammer, but he could have a hammer made by or blessed in the name of Thor. Hence, hammer of the gods.

Be that as it may, Xander survived being hit with this hammer, so I call plot hole. 🙂

 

[buffyprops]

It's pretty obvious that it isn't supposed to be Thor's Hammer simply by Anya's Reference to it being "the Troll God's enchanted Hammer".

Icarium---Watch the episode again please. Xander hit the Hammer not the other way around!

 

[fly on the wall]

Well, I did mention the fact that it would have been odd (not Aud 🙂)
for Anyanka to extract Vengeance on anyone by turning them into a "God" of any kind.
I just think it's a little sloppy on the writers part to have referenced it in one sentence and not attempted to explain it.
These questions still remain unanswered:
Where did Olaf get the Hammer? (since we must assume Anyanka didn't give it to him)
And who banished him into that crystal?
The last isn't that important I suppose as we can assume it was the hammer that caused Olaf to be a big enough threat to get him banished in the first place.

Let's assume that Olaf IS a troll god. I think being "god" of the trolls isn't like being a god of anything else. Seems to me, a troll god is just extra trollish. Which totally makes sense as far as vengeance goes.

I think it's safe to assume Anya banished him to that crystal, since the crystal was in her possession at the magic shop and she immediately knew what happened when Olaf was released. Perhaps at some point after she made Olaf into the troll but before she got into the swing of vengeance-demon-related things, she felt bad about the chaos Olaf was creating and so trapped him in the crystal. It also may have been a sentimental thing...her first real act of vengeance, so she wanted it as a keepsake.

 

[buffyprops]

I think it's pretty clear from what Anya said about the Hammer being
a "Troll Gods Hammer" that it was never intended or really even implied that Olaf was a Troll God.
If we want to really take a look at what IS implied however, we have to look at what we are told in the Season Seven Episode:
Selfless.
In that episode we actually get to see Olaf before he is turned into a Troll and he mentions having run into and defeating a band of Trolls.
I have to assume he either took the Hammer from them at that point or at some point a little bit later.
It's in this episode that we also get to see Olaf's first appearance in the village as a Troll and he already has the Hammer in his possession, which pretty clearly rules out the idea that he may have got it from Anya.

 

[PassionBecoming]

I just watched this episode yesterday. I just love it!

Definitely no mention of Olaf being a troll God, so I'm going to agree with Buffyprops and say that somewhere along the way, he managed to get it from someone/somewhere. Obviously, you have to have some sort of strength to use the hammer, and when you use it, you get even more strength.

It says in the episode that "dirty, filthy witches" banished him into that crystal.